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Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Obama administration is developing a "universal Internet ID" program that would watch, track, monitor and potentially control your activity on the Internet. These "trusted identities" are being touted asa way to increase safety and security on the Internet and as a way to eliminate the need for dozens of different usernames and passwords. But is a universal Internet ID that is issued and controlled by the U.S. government really a good idea?Right now, Obama administration officials are trying to make it seem as non-threatening as possible. They are insisting that it will not be mandatory. They are insisting that it would be impossible for hackers to steal the universal Internet identities. They are insisting that none of our personal information will be gathered or used by federal agencies. But in light of how regularly the government has abused our liberties and freedoms in recent years in the name of "security", should we really believe what they are saying about this new universal Internet ID?

Perhaps to assuage concerns about "Big Brother", the Obama administration is proposing that the U.S. Commerce Department be the one to oversee these new universal Internet identities.

But how long do you think it would take for the Department of Homeland Security (along with several dozen other government agencies) to get involved in "administering" these "trusted identities"?

The potential for government abuse of such a system is absolutely staggering. As we have seen so many times over the past few years, when you give government bureaucrats an inch, often they end up taking several miles.

The video posted below is an excerpt from a CBS News report about these proposed universal Internet identities....

So what are some of the other potential problems of such a system?

Well, by creating a "master key" to the Internet for each and every individual, if it is lost or stolen you could literally lose everything you have worked so hard for in a single day. Imagine what could happen if a very evil hacker gained instant access to your bank account, your credit cards, your Paypal account, your email, your Facebook account, your Twitter account, your Ebay account, your Amazon account, your blogs, your websites and everything else of importance on the Internet that belongs to you.

Just imagine the damage that could be done.

In addition, it would only be a matter of time before this universal Internet ID becomes "a de facto national ID".

In fact, it is not hard to imagine that "in the name of security" Americans would soon be required to link the universal Internet ID to biometric information or even link it to a microchip implant of some sort.

Of course this new program is going to "start out as voluntary", but how many times before has the government introduced "voluntary" programs that later became mandatory?

Once this universal Internet ID is implemented, it is only going to be a matter of time until many different federal agencies and a significant percentage of large corporations begin demanding that people start using it. Eventually it would become extremely difficult to function on the Internet without one. Once that point arrives, it would only be a very small step to make it mandatory for everyone.

Of course right now the Obama administration insists that it is "doing us a favor" by creating a system that would enable us to be able to get rid of the dozens of usernames and passwords that we all use now.

But what all of this really sounds like is the kind of Internet controls that are being imposed in places like China.

The truth is that a universal Internet ID would give the U.S. government more power to license, monitor and police the Internet than they have ever had before.

In fact, some talking heads on the major news networks are already touting this new identification system as a way to "tone down" the "vicious" rhetoric on the Internet.

Of course what that really means is that they want to shut up a lot of the dissenting voices out there because they are not "politically correct" and they don't agree with the version of the "truth" that the establishment media is constantly pushing.

Hopefully the American people will realize that a universal Internet ID controlled by the government would be another gigantic step in the direction of becoming a Big Brother police state. Unfortunately, the American people have not been doing a great job of standing up for liberty and freedom at this point. There was an initial uproar when the new "naked body scanners" were installed at U.S. airports and when airport officials started feeling up our private areas as part of the new "enhanced pat-downs", but most Americans seem to have accepted these "new security procedures" at this point.

So now the Obama administration is ready to push even further. They want to put a chokehold on the last great bastion of free speech in America - the Internet.

Someday if you have to get a license from the U.S. government to read articles like this or to write articles like this, don't say that you weren't warned.